by Dena Christy
“I can’t take anymore. I need you inside me.” She panted against his chest as he continued to torture her with his fingers. She could feel her rising orgasm, and more than anything she wanted him inside her when it happened. Since he seemed in no hurry to take her, she decided that she needed to hasten him along. She jerked open his button fly jeans and shoved them down his legs. He’d gone commando and his erection sprung free. She caressed him with greedy hands, loving the smooth hard feel of his skin. He moaned low in his throat when her thumb circled the smooth head of his cock.
She knew he’d reached his limit when he pushed her jeans and panties down her legs in one swift motion. She stepped out of her bottoms as she continued to stroke him. He pushed her hand away and turned her around, running his hand down her back as he leaned her over the kitchen table. She widened her stance, and he stepped between her legs.
The blunt head of his erection eased inside her, and she pushed her hips back to take all of him. He slammed into her over and over, his hand stroking her clitoris as she met each of his thrusts. She climbed quickly to her climax and she felt the bite of his teeth at her shoulder, not hard enough to break the skin. The slight, stinging pain sent her over the edge, and she called his name as her body spasmed and her hips bucked back against him. She collapsed on the surface of the table, her fevered skin pressing against the cool wood as she felt his final thrusts before he poured himself into her.
His arms went around her waist as he pulled her off the table and collapsed back into one of the kitchen chairs. His heart pounded against her back, and she knew the rhythm of it matched her own. Her head fell back, resting against his shoulder.
“You okay?” His voice rumbled next to her ear and she could read the concern in his voice.
“I’ve never been better.” She said as she shifted on his lap and she felt him slip from her body. His arms tightened around her.
“Don’t go yet.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” She turned around so she could face him, her legs hanging down either side of the chair as she put her arms around his torso and rested against his chest.
“Why were you mad at Samara?” His hand smoothed down her back, which was still covered by the tattered T-shirt. She shrugged it off and let if fall to the floor, and her bra followed as she unhooked it.
“I wasn’t mad at her. I just want to have this time with you, to enjoy each day as it comes without worrying about the future. I just feel so pressured to be fine with this relationship and I’m getting there, I am. But old habits die hard, and I just want to enjoy the newness of it. I want us to be like any other normal couple who’ve just gotten together. ”
“So basically you want to spend most of our time together fucking like rabbits?” His laughter rumbled in his chest, and she smiled up at him.
“Yeah basically I do. Are you okay with that?” she asked as she leaned forward to nibble on his lower lip. She drew back and he squeezed her waist with his hands.
“Are you kidding? It’s like a dream come true for me. A beautiful woman who wants my body all the time. What’s not to like?” Nick said as he quirked an eyebrow at her.
“You’re not upset that I don’t want to delve any deeper than that right now?” Hadria looked deeply into his eyes, trying to be sure that he was truly fine with her setting the pace of their relationship.
“No, I’m not upset.” His smile was gentle as he stroked a hand down her face. “I’ve been just as guilty of putting pressure on you. If you need time to get used to the idea of us, I can live with that.”
Hadria sighed as she settled back against him, closing her eyes as he stroked his hands up and down her bare back. She pressed her lips against his neck and could feel him stirring against her. She pulled back and gave him a smile of pure feminine power.
“You ready for round two?”
Heat flared in his eyes. “Absolutely,” he growled before drawing her mouth down to his.
Chapter Eight
Hadria walked through the wooded area as a shiver skittered across her skin. The only sound was the wind rustling through the leaves, and it was as if the entire forest was collectively holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. Cadric had texted her while she’d been visiting Samara, telling her to come here. She looked over at Eric, who insisted on coming with her when she’d told Samara that she was going to investigate the area where two women had been attacked by wolves a week earlier. Samara hadn’t wanted her to go out there alone, and since Eric would do anything to keep his woman happy, he refused to let her leave without him. She knew Cadric wanted Eric to join the Order and so she figured her boss wouldn’t mind if she took Eric with her.
“It’s too quiet, isn’t it?” she murmured as she noticed Eric’s body tensing, telling her that he sensed the same thing.
“Shhh.” Eric looked around, inhaling deeply as if trying to catch a scent on the wind. His eyes moved around the perimeter, but like her he didn’t appear to notice anything out of the ordinary. His mouth tightened as he continued forward beside her. “Maybe the animals sense us here. Where did you say the women were attacked?”
“A little further north. We’re almost there.”
A shrill scream pierced the air, and Hadria drew her pistol from the holster under her arm, wishing it had more fire power than the tranquilizer darts it was loaded with. Eric sprinted ahead of her toward the sound of the screaming. They reached the clearing where the other women were attacked, and Hadria skidded to a stop when she saw a female hiker laying prone on her back, struggling against the flashing jaws of a wolf tearing into her flesh.
Eric tackled the wolf, knocking it from the woman. He held the snarling, snapping wolf away from him as it tried to tear into his throat. Hadria raised her gun.
“Eric!”
He looked over at her and understood what she intended to do. He shoved the wolf away and gained his feet. Hadria sighted quickly and fired, the dart embedding into the fleshy shoulder of the wolf. He spun toward her, sprinting a few feet toward her before he collapsed on the ground.
She shoved her gun back into the holster, and ran toward the woman lying on the ground. Blood spilled from her in several places. She pulled the phone from her pocket and threw it toward Eric.
“Call the SOS number in my contact list. Tell them what’s going on and they’ll send an ambulance to bring her into Headquarters.”
Hadria turned her attention back to the woman, hoping to keep her from dying until help arrived. She spied a discarded backpack beside the hiker, and reached for it, hoping it would contain something to help her. She rifled through it until she found a cotton shirt.
“They’re on their way. It should take them about fifteen minutes to get here. What can we do until then?”
“Rip this in half and we’ll try to stop some of the bleeding.” She tossed the shirt to him, and he tore it in two before kneeling beside the woman and handing Hadria half of the shirt.
The hiker had passed out and Hadria thought it was a blessing in some ways, since it would spare her further pain. She and Eric worked hard trying to slow the bleeding, both focused on what they were doing. He stiffened across from her when they heard the snapping of a twig at the edge of the clearing. Hadria looked up, her mouth going dry when she saw three wolves coming into view.
“Stay with her,” Eric shouted as he ripped his shirt off. Hadria knew it would take him precious minutes-time they didn’t have-for him to strip and go through the change.
“I’ll hold them off and we’ll keep them away from her.” Hadria stood and ran toward the wolves, who were baring their teeth and raising their hackles as they growled at her. She leaped in the air, ignoring Eric’s shout, and transformed into her wolf form. She felt the magic ripple through her and she landed squarely on four paws in front of the wolves. They backed away slightly as she stalked toward them baring her teeth.
They appeared to recover from their shock, and fanned out to circle her. She turned within the c
ircle, trying to keep her eyes on each one of them in turn. One of the wolves darted toward her, nipping at her heels. She spun quickly and lunged at it, and it danced away. She was aware that they were toying with her, trying to wear her down before coming in for the kill, but she didn’t need to fight them. She just needed to buy enough time for Eric to change and for help to arrive.
***
Nick glanced at his watch and realized he still had four hours left to work before he could go home, hopefully with Hadria in tow. They’d ridden in to work together, and would be meeting up after his shift was over. He loved his job but at the moment he resented any time that took her away from him.
The blue colored alarm light by his office door buzzed as it flashed off and on. Nick jumped to his feet, adrenaline shooting through his body. The light meant there was an emergency and he needed to get to the infirmary immediately.
He ran from his office and down the corridor. He skidded to a halt when he saw Cadric striding up the hall toward him.
“I need you to take a team out to pick up a female hiker who was attacked by wolves. Eric called it in.”
“Eric? What the hell is Eric doing there?” The last time he checked his brother had refused to work for the Order, so what the hell was he doing calling them for help.
“He went out with Hadria. I’m not sure why she felt the need to go out there but I’ll find out when she comes in. The woman’s badly hurt, so you better hurry.”
Nick turned and sprinted toward the tunnels. Several wolf members of the Order waited for him, one getting behind the wheel of the Order’s ambulance while Nick rode shotgun, and the rest piled into an SUV outfitted as an emergency vehicle. They flew out of the compound, their siren screaming as they raced out of the city.
The scenery flew by as Nick’s leg bounced up and down. He hated this part of the job, the waiting to get to the victim. He needed to be doing something and he knew that every minute that passed was one closer to not being able to save the woman.
They pulled off the main highway and down a dirt road. He looked over at Jay, who did nothing to slow his speed. His nickname was Road Runner because he always moved incredibly fast, no matter what he was doing, and Nick wasn’t at all surprised when he didn’t slow the vehicle down to make allowances for the changes in the road surface.
“We’re almost there. I can see a truck up ahead,” Jay said as he navigated the ambulance down the gravel road.
Nick looked out up the road and recognized the vehicle. “That’s my brother’s truck. We’ll have to walk in from here.”
Jay slammed on the breaks and the ambulance skidded to a halt. Nick rushed out of the vehicle, and raced to the back, grabbing a medical kit while Jay joined him and pulled out the field stretcher.
The other members of their team poured out of the SUV, two of whom had changed into wolf form on the way over. Nick didn’t think they would find anything untoward when they got to their destination, but it was protocol when werewolves were involved in anything that at least two members of their team change into wolf form. They didn’t want to be at a disadvantage in any situation involving werewolves, and changing took precious time. Time which they sometimes didn’t have.
The two wolves stiffened and their hackles went up before they charged through the woods at a full run. With his heart pounding in his chest, Nick crashed through the woods until he came to the clearing. He took in the scene in a matter of moments. He saw his brother in his wolf form, fighting three wolves with a golden haired wolf beside him. His gut clenched when he realized Hadria was the golden wolf, and he took a step toward her, ready to go through the change and join the fray in order to protect her.
“Come on man, they can take care of it.” Jay jerked his head to indicate the two members of his team who charged into the fight. “We need to look after her.”
Nick turned his attention away from the fight, and rushed over to the prone woman laying on the ground. He pressed his fingers to the side of her neck, but he couldn’t find a pulse. He checked at her wrist and finally put his ear to her chest. No pulse. Tilting her head back he blew into her mouth before starting chest compressions. He silently counted in his head as he alternated between breathing in her mouth and pushing down on her chest. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins as he continued working on her for several long minutes.
“Nick, it’s no good. She’s gone.”
Nick sat back on his haunches as he looked down at the prone woman on the ground in front of him. She never even stood a chance. Once that wolf saw her in the woods she was as good as dead. The extent of her injuries precluded any other outcome, but still he wished that it hadn’t worked out that way. His job was to save lives, and when he failed to do that, it ate away at him.
A hand came down on his shoulder and he looked up to see Hadria standing beside him, a look of profound sadness on her face. Nick jumped to his feet, his eyes roaming over every inch of her body to make sure she was okay. Tears clung to the edge of her lashes, trembled there for a moment, before slowly trekking down her cheeks. Nick drew her to him, banding his arms around her.
“Eric and I tried really hard to slow the bleeding. We had to leave her because the other wolves came and were going to attack. I should have stayed with her, but Eric needed time to go through the change so I left her and went for the wolves. It’s my fault she’s dead.”
“It is not your fault, anymore than it is mine. The blame lies with the wolf who attacked her and whoever is responsible for this whole mess we’re in. The best thing you can do is find out who the hell is doing this and put an end to them.”
She pulled back and looked at him, nodding her head. Eric walked over to them, looking none the worse for wear despite a few scratches he was sporting. Someone called Hadria’s name and she excused herself.
“What the hell happened?” Nick demanded as he scowled at his brother.
“I came with Hadria. She was looking for something that might have been missed when the other team checked out the scene. We were on our way here when the woman started screaming. When we got to her the wolf already attacked and Hadria shot him with a tranquilizer. We tried to save the girl, but I guess we didn’t get to her in time.”
“What the hell are you doing here anyway? I thought you were adamant that you weren’t going to join the Order?”
“I have no intention of joining the Order but Samara asked me to come with Hadria, since she didn’t want her coming up here alone. Good thing I did too, since there were three other wolves here, watching as that poor hiker was being ripped apart.”
Nick closed his eyes as an image of Hadria suffering the same fate as the girl flashed through his mind. “I owe you.”
“You don’t owe me anything. We’re family and Hadria is your woman and Samara’s mom, which makes her family too.”
“You’ll have to come back to Headquarters and answer some questions.”
“Yeah I know. I’ll let you get done what needs to be done. I’ll wait by the truck and give you and Hadria a lift back when you’re ready.”
Nick nodded and turned his attention back to the dead woman at his feet. Jay had gotten a body bag from the ambulance, and Nick helped him gently ease the woman inside it. He drew the zipper up, covering the woman’s face. She would be taken back to headquarters and given a proper burial. Nick felt for her family, who would never know what happened to her. To them she would be forever missing.
It didn’t take long to take the woman back to the ambulance, and Jay got in the front seat and looked over at Nick.
“I assume you’re not riding back with me? You’ll want to spend time with Hadria, make sure she’s okay.”
Nick nodded, glad that Jay understood. He slapped the door of the ambulance as Jay backed out and headed down the road, at a much slower pace than he’d used coming in. Nick walked over to the SUV, and waited for Hadria to join them. After a few moments she emerged from the woods, and Nick couldn’t hold back any longer. He
strode over to her and pulled her into his arms, kissing her with all the emotion roiling inside him since he’d walked into the clearing and seen her fighting in the midst of the wolves.
“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” he said harshly as he pulled away.
“I won’t. Trust me I don’t want to get into a situation like that any time soon.”
Nick put his arm around her waist and together they walked toward the SUV where Eric was waiting patiently in the drivers seat. Hadria climbed into the back and Nick joined her. Normally he would have chosen the front passenger side, but he didn’t want to let her out of the range of his touch until he’d assured himself that she really was unharmed.
Chapter Nine
“What the hell would possess you to go off to that clearing by yourself?” Cadric shouted at Hadria within seconds of her coming to meet with him in his office. A vein pulsed in his forehead, and Hadria didn’t think she’d ever seen him in such a state.
Hadria drew up straight in her seat when what he said sunk in. Cadric paced in front of her, working up a full head of steam. What the hell was he talking about? He was the one who gave the order.
“You ordered me to go. You sent me a text, telling me you wanted me to check out the scene again in case something was missed.”
“I never sent you a text message, Hadria.” Cadric sat down in his chair and raked his fingers through his hair. “Didn’t you think it was strange that I would text you, telling you to go there, but failed to assign anyone to meet you?”
Hadria pulled out her phone and searched for the message she’d been sent. She was glad she hadn’t deleted it. She pulled it up onto the screen and handed the phone to him. “I didn’t think anything out of the ordinary, since the message said that someone would meet me there.”
